An ESPN audience and a sold-out BankUnited Center will be on hand at 2 p.m. Saturday when the ACC foes trade traditional roles. Miami is the top-10 team riding a 10-game winning streak while the Tar Heels are three games behind the league-leading Hurricanes.

No. 8 Miami (18-3, 9-0 ACC) is favored by 7 1/2 after winning the last 10 games by an average of 12.3 points.

UM was even projected as a No. 1 seed in CBS's Friday estimate as the wildly unpredictable college season creeps closer to March.

UNC (16-6, 6-3 ACC) has won six of its last seven after Miami left Chapel Hill, N.C., a 68-59 winner Jan. 10. That was the third of the current 10-game winning streak for the Hurricanes, but the first name-brand ACC win.

"It was huge," guard Shane Larkin said. "You don't regularly go into the Dean Dome and get a win against North Carolina. That was definitely a huge win, but that wasn't where we wanted to peak."

It actually got a lot better after that.

A win Saturday could push the Hurricanes to its best ranking in program history. The No. 8 standing already tied the 53-year old school mark, but Larranaga doesn't have to look far for reasons to worry about the Tar Heels.

A stat junkie obsessed with the statistical jungleland KenPom.com, the Miami coach can tell you the exact number of concern. The Heels play with the third-fastest tempo of any team in the nation.

"Basically, it has to do with the number of possessions you play in the game," Larranaga said. "Very typically, we may play 60-64 possessions. They often play 80-84 possessions."

Miami limited the Tar Heels to four fast-break points in the previous victory, but UNC has the league's second-best turnover margin.

The visitor's 79.1-point scoring average leads the league before facing the Hurricanes — owners of the ACC's second-lowest defensive allowance of 58.9 points a game.

"They do so many different things well," Miami senior and Durham native Julian Gamble said. "They have tremendous athletes. A lot of those guys were McDonald's All-Americans. They're a great team in transition, they shoot the three-ball well and they're one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the country."

Center Reggie Johnson joked with Larkin about getting another 10-rebound game considering how well the Tar Heel guards crash the boards. UNC averages 42.2 rebounds a game to Miami's 36.7.

The Tar Heels also lead the league in assists (18.3 a game), steals (8.3), and offensive rebounds (15.0). Miami leads only in wins, but that's all that ultimately matters.

As the Hurricanes reach into the last 10 regular-season games, they know they're on the verge of something that hasn't been done before.

That only makes every game a little more important than ever before — not an excuse for complacency.

"Any time you play against a North Carolina team, it's special," Johnson said. "I just know the history behind all those schools and when they lose, their fans hate it. And when they win their fans walk with their chest out."